Does your bike feel like it's flagging? Time to give it some air.

My previous post was all about speed. I have a little update. I changed my front tyre last night as I happened to have a spare Schwalbe Marathon in my shed (long story). I finally checked what the make was of my existing tyres, and it turns out they're called Maxxis Detonators - or, as I now know them, pin cushions. They seem to absorb glass and nails as methodically and surely as a sponge soaks up water. The website does call them "training" tyres - does that mean they're not for actual racing or indeed road use of any kind? Anyway, off one of them came, and off the other one will come as soon as I can get another Schwalbe.

Pump it baby

But that's not what I want to talk about. Because at the same time I pumped up my tyres to very close to the limit recommended. I set off with a bit of trepidation this morning. It was definitely a "harder" ride and my rack and paniers were shaking and rattling like never before. But ... my whole ride was transformed! It was like moving from a scooter to a motorbike, or sludge to crisp snow. It felt like I was going about twice the speed with so much less difficulty. I realised that I'd spent the last two or three weeks with a nasty feeling of going through treacle.

Pumped up in the sun

So the moral - should you need it - is that it's worth investing in a really meaty pump and filling up those thar tyres!

With the sun shining, the canal looking lovely, and much more wind in my hair (well, helmet anyway) it was one of the most delightful rides of the year.

Best tyres to avoid punctures?

I don't normally post twice in a day, but I haven't been on for a few days and I have a few things stored up. This one relates to tyres too (see below). I regularly got punctures and I remember it being miserable - I got so many, in fact, that it almost put me off cycling.

So I went to the bike shop and demanded the most rugged tyres they had. (Slightly reminiscent - though only slightly - of the "Withnail and I" scene where he demands "the finest cake and wine money can buy"). They fitted me with Schwalbe tyres. I think I can safely say (and this is so clearly tempting fate that I'm almost not going to say this at all) that I haven't had a puncture in more than a year, and that's riding in fairly rough London conditions sometimes 20 miles a day.

Chatting to a friend at work (a different one to the Brompton one) he revealed that he's just switched to Schwalbe after a miserably high number of punctures in the last few weeks. I'll give an update on how he gets on (in fact he reads the blog so you could just comment here!) because it would be interesting if there was a pattern emerging and whether it's really worth spending the extra money. And by the by, my Brompton friend also has Schwalbes ... not quite sure what that means though.